candle making

Seth decided he wanted to try to make our own candles so he went to Michael's and bought a candle making kit & some cinnamon fragrance.

We tried it out on Tuesday night. We made up our own version of a double boiler and melted the soy wax. Even though they were going to be cinnamon scented I didn't want to just go with the typical red coloring & chose to do purple instead so we mixed the blue & red dye to make this pretty purple color.

We had a little extra wax left over so I found a little jar I had laying around & we poured the remaining wax into it for a smaller candle.

The scent is so strong & lovely! The house smells wonderful even when the candles aren't lit!

We had a lot of fun and it was a lot easier than we expected. We will definitely be trying some more candle making!

a work in progress

I'm working on a little rug using some scrap yarn for under our new coffee table.

P.S. doesn't Jenny look absolutely adorable in her pink hair and the scarf I made for her!? This picture is so pretty & it always makes me so happy seeing something I made being loved by someone else!

new coffee table

I have been searching craigslist for awhile for a simple coffee table for our living room. I thought what I was wanting was going to be simple to find. I didn't want anything fancy, no glass inserts, & it had to be cheap! After countless times browsing the site I gave up and decided to just not try to hard and if it comes along I will go for it.

On Saturday we went to a local flea market and I found this shelf thingy. It looked like someone took 2 small tables and just placed them on top of each other to make a shelf. So I asked Seth if he thought he could take them apart without destroying them. He looked at it closer and saw that they were just nailed together. They were exactly what I was looking for. Small, simple & for only $6.50 it was the perfect price!

The bottom of the feet were kind of rough so I wanted to put something on the bottom to keep from scratching the floor. I couldn't find my felt so I crocheted some tiny circles and glued them onto the feet. Works just as well! :)

This works a whole lot better than the basket I was using in place of a coffee table! And I have 2 of them... even better!

i'm not going anywhere

It looks like the next couple days are going to be cozy, stay at home, crocheting, watching netflix & eating soup kind of days. I'm glad we did our grocery shopping yesterday! It hasn't let up yet today.

Seth has his superman shirt and snow pants on ready for any vehicles that may get stuck at our corner.

For Kizzy that means a snow plows & stuck vehicle watching...

and sitting in a box kind of day.

If you are in this storm be sure to stay safe and keep warm!!

yarn vases

I recieved the latest lion brand catelog this week and was really inspired by their yarn wrapped vases.

I have been saving tin coffee and soup cans and thought they were perfect for this project. I took 3 different sizes and wrapped some scrap yarn around it and added the contrasting black for some texture. It was exactly what I needed to place on top of our entertainment center. I'm really loving simple decor lately.

In other news... how come nobody has ever told me about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!? Seth found it on Netflix and made me watch it. It is so weird but so funny! Neil Patrick Harris never fails to make us laugh!

Love these scenes!

valentine doily

Wow! I have actually finished something! That doesn't seem to be happening a lot around here lately. I'm still feeling worn down this week but I have had bursts of energy. When I am feeling good I try to get some crafting done. I'm sure this snow isn't helping my energy. Snow makes me want to stay cozied up in my bed all day!

I made this doily for Valentine's Day but because I made it in a denim color I think it will look good anytime of the year! I love the shape of the hearts!

pattern found here

craft room

I took some pictures of my newly rearranged craft room. My craft room is very very small but I like it like that. It is very cozy & I love being in here!

I took the guest daybed out of another room and put it in here so guests can stay in here as well and I have a comfy place to crochet. It doesn't have sheets on yet because they are in the wash. But I put the blanket on there for the pictures. I think I may keep it on there. I like the stripes!

I still need to find some prints to put on the wall and I'm sure I will constantly change it around.

It's not much but it's my space and I love it!

Welcome 2011!

I hope everyone's New Year was wonderful! I attempted to stay up at a youth lock-in but just couldn't make it. I went home sometime between 2 and 2:30am. And slept the entire day of New Years! I am not an all-nighter! I gotta have my sleep!

I'm looking forward to 2011! I have some goals for myself but I'm not going to bore you with mine as I'm sure you have already read countless of other blogger's goals! Mine are similar to everyone else's anyway I'm sure :)

I did rearrange my craft room for the new year. It is much cozier and I love spending time in here!

Kizzy loves it as well. She is allowed in here now that I have rearranged it. Before she would sneak in here to climb into the yarn to sleep when I wasn't looking and I'd find yarn sprawled all over the floor! I took out all the yarn on the bottom shelf of my desk and put down a couple of her blankets so she can spend time with me while I'm in here. She loves it!

Tomorrow I will show a couple more pictures of the room since I have rearranged it!

What are some things you are looking forward to in 2011?

a few Christmas details

Just a few glimpses into our Christmas this year. Hope you had as nice of a Christmas as we did!

new colors

We originally planned on getting a big tree this year but decided yesterday to just change the decorations on our mini tree. Changing out the decorations is much cheaper anyway! I love the new color scheme - purple & blue.

a little bit

a little bit of Christmas decorating...

jellyfish

I was browsing etsy and came across this crocheted jellyfish and really liked it so while watching Elf last night I made myself one for my kitchen. He is hanging over my sink!

organize

Whenever we eat soup or canned vegetables I save the cans so I can make these crocheted covers for them and use them as organizers. They are kind of addicting to make! I made the middle one in blue and white this morning for Seth to take to his office.

My Christmas Mantle

I pulled out all the Christmas decorations today. I threw this garland together using some of the granny tree ornaments I had made using this pattern. This is my mantle as of now. Knowing me, I will change it a ton of times before Christmas actually gets here though :)

Old Christmas Cards

I found a way to reuse those pretty cards that were sent to me last year. I crocheted around the edges of each card and attached ribbon for hanging and I have easy and cute Christmas decorations!

I wonder...

The decision I made in my last post has been sooo freeing! I can make things for myself without feeling guilty. What have I been doing with the time now? Making hotpads of course! I have a little corner in my dining room that needed some color and I thought colorful hotpads would brighten the space up a little bit. I actually have one more that is just pink and black rounds but I didn't get a picture of it before it got dark. I think adding a few vintage hotpads or potholders to the collection would be so fun!

I was thinking as I was making these though. I wonder what will happen to everything I make one day? Will my children treasure these things or will they be auctioned off in a smokey building for a quarter in a box of odds & ends? Have you ever wondered this? Or am I just weird? I'm ok with being a little weird :)